Company set up to produce $75 laptop

The scientist who designed a notebook computer for poor children that is being produced and sold by a nonprofit foundation has set up a company to commercialize the technology with a goal of producing a $75 laptop computer.

Mary Lou Jepsen, who left her post as chief technology officer of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation at the end of last year, said on a website for her company, Pixel Qi, that her firm is "a spin-out" from the nonprofit group.

Jepsen invented a low-cost, low-power, sun-readable screen while at the foundation from 2005 to 2007. She also co-invented its power-management system.

Pixel Qi will commercialize the screen technology, offering it to makers of notebook computers, digital cameras, cellphones, and other mobile devices, she said.

The high-resolution display she invented lets users switch from color to black-and-white when it is in direct sun.

The company will work closely with the Cambridge-based foundation, providing the products it develops to the nonprofit group at cost, according to the Pixel Qi website.

Prior to joining the One Laptop Per Child Foundation, she was the chief technology officer of the display division of Intel Corp.